10 Must See Movies For Car Fans

There is something about a great on screen car chase that enthrals and excites most of us more than almost anything else in cinema. Car movies have been a staple throughout cinema history and in that time there have admittedly been some awful car films that really shouldn’t have been released, however there have also been some truly spectacular car movies too. Car movies that have become iconic, that have gone down in history and that have helped define cinema regardless of genre. Some of these movies are mentioned below in our top 10 car movies list. We decided to pick movies from a large time frame to most accurately represent the diversity of great car movies, old and new. The list is in no particular. Enjoy.

1. Bullitt (1968)

Bullitt is arguably one of the most iconic and most important car movies in film history. Directed by Peter Yates and starring the great Steve McQueen along with the equally great Robert Vaughn and Jacqueline Bisset. The story follows Frank Bullitt, a police officer tasked with protecting a witness for 40 hours, but when the witness and another policeman are injured by hitmen who know the location of the witness Bullitt takes it upon himself to investigate the case on his own.

2. The Cannonball Run (1981)

A large number of highly eccentric competitors participate in a wild and illegal cross- country car race. The entrants are willing to win at any cost, including resorting to low- down dirty tricks. The film features a great all-star cast including , and and is directed by .

3. American Graffiti (1973)

The film centres around four teenagers each with their own predicaments on their last night of their summer holiday before they start college. The film is directed by the brilliant George Lucas and stars Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard and Paul Le Mat. 4. Grand Prix (1966)

The plot centres around Grand Prix Driver Pete Aron who is told to leave by this racing team after a fatal crash in Monaco which injured his team mate Scott Stoddard. While Scott is struggling to recover Pete decides to join the Japenese Yamura team and manages to become romantically involved with Stoddards wife. The film is directed by John Frankenheimer and stars James Garner, Eve Marie Saint and Yves Montand.

5. (1976)

A somewhat random group of drivers from different backgrounds take part in an illegal and secret cross country winner takes all rally across the US. This hugely entertaining film is directed by Charles Bail and stars Michael Sarrazin, Tim McIntire and Raul Julia.

6. The Fast and The Furious (2001)

The first in the hugely successful and well known film franchise. The Fast And The Furious follows the story of Brian O’Connor. He is an LAPD officer that goes undercover in the shady world of underground to investigate the LAPD’s suspicion of LA street racer Dominic Toretto’s involvement in a string of high speed truck robberies. However O’Connor quickly finds himself drawn into to this new world as well as falling for Torettos sister, Mia.

7. Drive (2011)

Drive follows the story of a mysterious driver of few words who has multiple jobs (a garage mechanic, a stuntman and getaway driver). He falls for his neighbour whose husband (Standard Gabriel) is in prison. When Gabriel is later released from prison, he and the driver come face to face and the driver agrees to help Gabriel by being the getaway driver in a pawn shop robbery which Gabriel has to complete for the criminals that provided Gabriel protection in prison. The film is directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan and Bryan Cranston.

8. Gone In 60 Seconds (2000)

Kip Raines is a car thief that is chosen to steal fifty very specific cars, however when things go wrong, Raymond, the man who hired Kip wants him dead. When Kip’s brother Memphis hears of this he comes back to town to see if he can aid Kip. Memphis was once a great car thief who since retired. The only thing that will satisfy Raymond is if he gets his fifty cars so Memphis works to reassemble his old crew in order to complete the job. At the same time a cop who was following Memphis back in glory days is back on his trail and one of Memphis’s old car thief competitors is after the same job of stealing the fifty cars. The film is directed by Dominic Sena and stars Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie and Giovanni Ribisi.

9. Cars (2006)

Cars is the first animated film on our list and we feel it really deserves to be here. Cars follows the story of Lightning McQueen, a young, hotshot race car who is in the last race of the season. At the end of the race there is a tie between two other cars and on the way to the tiebreaker race in LA some cars get McQueen lost in a small town called Radiator Springs. McQueen tears up the town’s main road and as a result is given a community service sentence.

During his time at Radiator Springs McQueen meets a friendly tow truck called Mater and Sally, a stunning sports car. As he stays in the small town longer and longer the towns people help him learn about the value of family and friendship.

10. Smokey And The (1977)

Smokey And The Bandit follows the story of two truck drivers (Bandit and Cledus) who accept a dare from two others to pick up a truckload of beer all the way from Texas and return it to them in a given time frame. Bandit and Cledus pick up the beer, but on the way back from Texas they realise they have unwittingly picked up a woman called Carrie too. Carrie is a bride to be who has just left her soon to be husband at the alter. The soon to be husband is the son of the Sherriff and when the husband and Sherriff find out what’s happened they go on a high speed pursuit to catch the bandit.